WTF Wednesday

Just some things that made me pause this week:

• Our otherwise unremarkable President finally said something that I can wholeheartedly agree with. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Germany's reunification he remarked that "Islam is a part of Germany". Hallelujah! Alhamdullilah! Thank You! You'd think that stating the obvious would earn him some nods and general agreement. But alas, no! Dissociation from Wulffs remarks followed posthaste. Apparently his former fellow conservative party members are so scared by the mere mention of the big bad Islam that they have to run headfirst into denial like a bunch of scared chicken. And who'll be surprised that their reasoning is yet again based on their beloved German Leitmotiv of a judeo-christian-occidental culture. WTF?! So, all these Muslims who where born here, who'll live their lives here and who (gasp!) might even have German citizenship are not part of this country because they just so happen to adhere to the wrong religion? Because culture is some entity that is fixed at some point in history and never changes? Me thinks not...maybe my dear conservative friends it would behoove you to once in a while check into our constitution that you hold so dear...you might be surprised at what you find...

• Speaking of religion, but on a lighter note: apparently there are some American companies who print "John 3:16" on their packaging or shopping bags. WTF?! I had no idea. This apparently refers to a verse in the Gospel of John in the New Testament. I find that confusing. Why do you do that? To inform everyone that you're Christian? It seems to me that there are more effective ways to do that, than a code that the targeted audience might not know. And even if so, I still don't get the point. I could not care less if the person who owns a company I buy something from is Christian, Bhuddist, Hindu or Moslem. It usually has nothing to do with product they are selling. Please, can someone explain? It truly baffles me.

• And now, on to an even fluffier subject. Danielle Steele has announced that she does not write Romance. WTF?! Of course she does not! Never has! As I have many times told any number of people who are not familiar with the genre and who upon my mentioning that I actually like it asked: "You mean, like Danielle Steele?" Now all of you smart, sophisticated, well-read and plain awesome ladies who like to read this often disparaged genre repeat with me: "No, Danielle Steele is not Romance. We would not touch that crap with a barge pole!" But evidently, Danielle had to make it clear because, you know, being put in that awful literary corner really is, like, the most awful thing that could happen to you as a serious writer of serious love stories... Nicolas Sparks seems to have similar fears... But never you fear, us serious fans of Romance have never considered you to be one of us, we'll probably stay as far away from you as you want to stay from us....